Titus 2:12

instructing us, to the extent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world;

It is the grace of God (through the gospel) which instructs men regarding those conditions which must be fulfilled by men in order to partake of that grace; and rejection of the instructions is equivalent to the rejection of the grace. Both positively and negatively the conditions are plainly laid out.

Denying ungodliness... This refers to the denial in one's life of irreligion. Salvation is promised to the religious persons who seek and find the true way of the Lord. The person who boasts that "I am not religious" has already forfeited the grace of God as it pertains to him. Such persons have "fallen short of it" (Hebrews 12:15).

And worldly lusts ... The sins of the flesh must be renounced. Even an apostle "buffeted his body" to bring it under subjection to the will of Christ. This is "where the rubber meets the road." All of the evils that perplex humanity in very large part are due to the unbridled seeking on the part of unregenerated men to fulfill the lustful appetites of their bodies. The true doctrine of Christ confronts the problems squarely, enabling the Christian, with divine help, to overcome. There can never be any hope for any such thing as peace and tranquillity upon this earth as long as human lusts are unsubdued.

Soberly... righteously.., godly... As Barackman said, "Guthrie suggested that `soberly, righteously, and godly' might be taken to mean the right kind of action toward ourselves, toward our neighbors, and toward God."[31]